The second phase of Iowa State's adoption of Workday enterprise software isn't as far off as you think. In fact, if your unit is considering a change to its business processes or an upgrade on a system or software that uses university financial, human resources or student data, the project could impact you right now.
Across the university, limiting system changes will be a top priority during the next four years, the implementation window for WorkCyte Phase II: Student Information and Receivables. The project will replace the remaining systems in ADIN and AccessPlus with modern, cloud-based technology that offers Iowa State students a mobile, tablet or desktop-friendly experience throughout their college years.
During focus groups held in April and May, the top theme from students, faculty and staff was how the proliferation of systems used on campus makes it difficult to accomplish tasks. Maximizing Workday's functionality -- how all its features perform together -- will give employees and students a better experience. So, planning is critical both for IT systems that will sunset and for upgrades to systems that integrate with a system to be replaced.
"For a project of this size to succeed, we must prioritize the IT services and other resources, including human resources, it demands," said vice president and chief information officer Kristen Constant. "We know units still may need upgrades to their IT systems, but our capacity to support other enterprise software requests is very limited."
Even seemingly small changes to existing systems and processes could impact the broader network, she noted.
Get help to evaluate your needs
The good news is that you don't have to do the impact assessment yourself. The WorkCyte team will help, and you actually can save time by going to them first. Units contemplating either changes to their business processes, programs or systems, or an enterprise system purchase are asked to contact the WorkCyte team using an online form. A team member will help you evaluate the request for any issues or risk before it goes to the Technology Enterprise Advisory Committee (TEAC) as part of the normal review process. The team also can suggest workarounds until there's better timing or solutions for integrating with the new Workday Student Information and Receivables systems.
TEAC has ranked, by priority, six circumstances for which changes or updates might be needed, everything from a critical but non-functioning business application to enhancements for existing systems. Requests will be assessed by priority, and those that intersect with the Student Information and Receivables project will get special consideration.
Questions about enterprise system changes may be directed to workcyte_feedback@iastate.edu.
